Rosemont 2003!! Planes have landed - cars are parked - and everyone is taking a a moment to savor the fun and excitement from this year's International Gift and Collectibles Exposition (IGCE). But what a weekend it was! News, exciting announcements, prizes, games and much, much more. The IGCE made a change this year - the "Dealer Days" was actually "Dealer Hours," running just from 11AM to 3PM. For the collectors, though, this gave them an extra 4 hours (Friday from 3PM to 7PM) to see some of the exciting displays the exhibitors had to show off. As always, the Fitz & Floyd/Charming Tails booth was "meeting place Central" for many dealers and collectors. Fitz & Floyd only had the 2003 Leaf & Acorn Club Kits and the "Computer Sitter" for sale - no special show piece was offered. But the booth was the perfect gathering place for friends from all over the world to meet, exchange hugs & kisses and swap their favorite Charming Tails stories. In addition, Dean surprised everyone by signing for an hour or two - which sent everyone scrambling back to their hotel rooms to get the pieces they brought with them! There were no announcements from Fitz & Floyd this year, though they did have the mid-year introductions, The Professions, there for all to see. And what a great series this will be! Each of the Fitz & Floyd employees dressed up to represent a different profession: Yvette as a secretary/receptionist, Wanda as a hair dresser, Chris as a teacher, Sanford as a physician, Brandon as a fireman and Karl as member of the Squashville Police Department. In case you missed it, he even made a special shoulder patch for his policeman's uniform. One important reminder from Wanda: They are still in need of recipes for the Charming Tails Cookbook that will be released in 2004. So pull out your favorite recipes and email them to CTmarketing@fitzandfloyd.com or send them to: Charming Tails Cookbook Project, 501 East Corporate Drive, Lewisville, TX 75057. A new exhibitor this year was David Grossman Creations. As many of you know, Dean has begun designing several lines for Grossman (previously announced right here in the SSC Newsletter - in the October 2002 Special Edition). The surprise this weekend was, in addition to the "Wee Whispers" and "Holly Twig Lane" lines, Dean & David Grossman announced the "Essence of Innocence" line of resin angels. You may remember the angels Dean did for Roman - well these take the angel figurine to a whole new level. Utilizing some special over-glazing processes, they have created figurines which seem to be a unique blend of porcelain, resin and pearl glaze. The response was overwhelming - it looks like they have a big hit on their hands. Then, Friday evening, was the Charming Tails Pizza Party, a joint venture between the Squashville Social Club and the Bears 'N Buddies/Charming Tails Forum. Pre-sale tickets told us to expect 75 - 100 people, but we had 123 come through our door! As was announced in the special edition of "News in a Nutshell" just before Rosemont, Dean was kind enough to provide a special print, just for the Pizza Party. Fortunately, he printed more than the 100 he told us, so everyone who attended was able to get a print. Thanks, Dean!! After getting everyone into the room (thanks for being patient - and so orderly!) - the fun began. We had 14 tables of dealers, including one donated by the SSC to the Lupus Chapter of Illinois. Lots of deals were made and then the drawings for the MANY prizes we had began. We want to take a moment and express a BIG THANKS to all the companies, stores and individuals who donated prizes and items for the auction. Without your support, this party would not be nearly as much fun and as exciting as it has become. Again - THANKS! (Please be sure to send your business to these donors - particularly the participating CT Dealers. Let them know how much we appreciate the prizes they donated!) One of the highlights of the evening was our first auction! And what a "highlight" it was! Originally we had five items to auction, but last minute additions from Olga Rodriguez and Mary Kay Doyle. (Thanks, Ladies!!) boosted that to seven. Here's what was offered and the prices they realized: Set of SSC Buttons (1998-2003) = $ 45.00 The total for the Auction alone was $635.00!! With ticket sales and the auction proceeds, less the cost of the room, pizza, snacks, soda & water, etc., the net proceeds were $1,941.23. BUT WAIT -- there's more. One of the prints Dean did of the SSC logo, along with 2 of the David Grossman prints will be auctioned on eBay. The three auctions start at 9:45 PM, 10:00 PM and 10:15 PM on Sunday, July 6th. Just search eBay for "Charming Tails print" or look up the following item numbers: 3232341767 (SSC Print), 3232343233 (Wee Whispers print) and 3232343574 (Holly Twig Lane print). The proceeds from those sales will be added to our total, which will then be divided between the SSC Annual Charity Fund and the Bears 'N Buddies/Charming Tails Forum donation to the Lupus Research Institute. Safe-to-say that each will be getting in excess of $1,000!! Thanks for all your support!! Everyone was so busy having fun, many of us never took the time to take any pictures! BUT -- Lynn Jett & Michael Hull have come to the rescue! Be SURE to check out their pictures, including those from the Party! Thanks Lynn & Mike! (They've written a great report on the weekend, too - well worth the read!) Saturday saw the Expo open with long lines and Dean was no exception. Many collectors spent Saturday morning standing in line, which was another great opportunity to greet friends and catch-up on each other's "goings on." Other collectors took to the "official" Swap 'N Sell - which was quite large this year, given the size of the Expo itself. Deals & bargains were there to be found, particularly since the collectibles secondary market has been having a "rough go" during the past year. But several dealers reported that sales were brisk, so maybe a turn-around in the secondary market isn't far off! Then came the Collector Seminars. First, Dean appeared for an hour at the David Grossman seminar. They planned on MAYBE 60 people ... imagine their surprise when almost 150 people showed up!! It's a good thing the back wall of the room was "removable" - otherwise it would have been REALLY tight in the room. As announced at the Pizza Party, Grossman Creations and Dean felt the nose of the "Wee Whispers" bunnies were too flat, so they have re-sculpted the pieces, making the bunny snouts longer and the heads a little thinner. Remember - there are only going to be 1000 of each of the 16 Wee Whispers that have been released, and the re-sculpted pieces will have a "carrot" production mark to differentiate them from the initial release. Check out the last three pictures on the "Wee Whispers" page for a comparison of the changes. Several prints were given out to the attendees, including a triptych of 3 Griff designs, pencil sketches of 2 different Essence of Innocence pieces, 2 different prints of Wee Whispers (one of a figurine that is available now, one coming in the future) and a drawing of "Santa with Walking Stick" from the Holly Twit Lane line. Many collectors had to make a hasty exit from the Grossman Seminar, as it ended just 30 minutes before the Charming Tails Carnival started at 3:00 PM. In keeping with the "Games" theme for Charming Tails this year, Fitz & Floyd hosted an exciting and fun Carnival - full of games and prizes. Upon entering, the first 200 members of the Leaf & Acorn Club received a print by Dean called "You Sizzle." There were lots of games and more prizes than you could imagine. It didn't take long for the collectors to learn that some of those who visited Wanda, the Carnival's Fortune Teller, received a print called "The Future Looks Bright." Due to an overwhelming turn-out, things did get pretty crowded, but everyone managed to have a great time. With all the games, you were trying to win "Cheesy Bucks", the official currency of Squashville. These could then be traded in for a wide assortment of prizes, including various Charming Tails figurines and plushes. Another event at the Carnival was the "Peep Show" - aptly named because it offered a "peep" at a line of figurines that will not be released for several years (2005, according to Dean; 2006 according to Yvette). This line is all based on HATS - and are just amazing. Each piece features Mackenzie or Maxine interacting with a oversized hat and include various themes, such as: construction worker's hat, baseball cap, fisherman cap (very popular!), Irish, Christmas (an absolutely ADORABLE one!), Halloween, Thanksgiving, "Pretty in Pink", Valentine's Day and more. Hard to describe (and photographs were, of course, prohibited) - but definitely worth looking forward to!! After lots of games and during the many rounds of "Bingo" - everyone anxiously waited for the drawings to give away ... DRAWINGS. Dean donated 12 ORIGINAL drawings he created for past Charming Tails figurines, so you know how excited everyone was - especially the Winners! Some of the lucky folk included Betty Jo Smice, our very own Rona Horn, Lauri Nickel (who's wanted an original drawing for years - but who hasn't!!), Susan Sheils, Lindsey Forbes, Carol Burbridge, Sharin Rosenblatt, Regie Thomas, Beth Litke and Betsy Teixeira. Congrats to all who won - and just remember, the rest of us are VERY jealous! : ) The festivities finally came to a close and some collectors had to start their long treks home. Others grouped-up and went out in search of dinner. But, after 2 long days, most were just looking forward to a quite evening and a chance to catch up on some long-lost sleep. Sunday was definitely the "quietest" of the three days. The Swap 'N Sell resumed at 9AM, though we're sure many collectors "resumed" a little later in the morning! LOL! Dean spent the morning signing at the Fitz & Floyd booth and then headed over to the David Grossman booth, where he did even more signings. Finally - the curtains came down, boxes were packed and the 2004 IGCE Expo came to an end. It was an exhausting weekend, but one nobody would have missed. As always, there was lots of fun, great exhibits to browse and enjoy and, most importantly, friends to hug and chat with. It's always great to reunite with old friends, as well as meeting new ones - and that, for one, was NOT in short supply! As many of you may have heard, the future of the Rosemont IGCE is, for now, still "up in the air." We had initially heard that the show was a definite "Go" for next year, but have now heard that Krause has only reserved the Rosemont space for next year. They will be contacting exhibitors regarding their desire to attend next year, and have about 3 months to make a final decision. Obviously - what needs to happen is for those exhibitors who were at the Expo in past years but have dropped out to return. We heard that many of this year's exhibitors will be encouraging the past exhibitors to come back, but a suggestion has been made that collectors should contact these companies and encourage them to come back to the show. Those of us who have be able to attend know just how much fun the Expo can be - so getting these past exhibitors back is going to be very important. If your favorite exhibitor wasn't there - write them a letter, send them an email or even give them a call and let them know that Rosemont is an important show for the industry and that we really want them back! Perhaps a ground-swell of support from the collectors will help encourage them to come back and return Rosemont to the show it used to be.
|
Check the "News in a Nutshell" archive
for past issues!